Kinross UFO Incident — The Intercept Mission: Minute by Minute

Kinross UFO Incident — The Intercept Mission: Minute by Minute

Pre-Mission Alert Status

At Kinross AFB on the evening of November 23, 1953, two F-89C aircraft were on five-minute alert status — ready to launch within five minutes of a scramble order. Aircraft 51-5853A, piloted by First Lieutenant Felix Moncla Jr. with Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson in the rear seat, was the primary alert aircraft. Lieutenant William Mingenbach was in the secondary five-minute alert aircraft.

The Radar Detection

On the evening of November 23, 1953, Air Defense Command radar at Truax AFB in Madison, Wisconsin, detected an unidentified target over the Soo Locks area:

• The target was moving at over 500 miles per hour***
• It was in restricted airspace above the Soo Locks — a specifically designated restricted zone
• Its origin and identity were unknown
• The radar return was evaluated as an unidentified target requiring intercept***

The 30th Air Defense Division headquarters (call sign "HORSEFLY") assessed the situation and issued a scramble order. The order was relayed through the NAPLES coordination center to Kinross AFB.

The Launch: 6:22 PM

At 6:22 PM***, aircraft 51-5853A — call sign Avenger Red*** — was wheels-up from Kinross AFB. Simultaneously, radar control passed from Truax AFB to the Calumet Air Force Station*** on the Keweenaw Peninsula, which had a better radar angle on the intercept area.

The Pursuit

Ground Control Intercept at Calumet directed Avenger Red on a northwest course across Lake Superior:

Time	Event
6:22 PM	Avenger Red takes off from Kinross AFB
En route	Moncla climbs to 30,000 feet; turns northwest across Lake Superior; Ground Control takes over directional guidance from Calumet AFS
En route	Wilson attempts to track target on onboard radar; has difficulty; target keeps changing course; Ground Control directs the intercept via ground-based radar
Approximately 6:25 PM	Lt. Mingenbach requests and receives permission to go on Combat Air Patrol as backup; call sign Avenger Black; airborne by approximately 7:15 PM
Ongoing	Ground Control watches two blips — Avenger Red and the unidentified target — on their radar; guides Moncla toward intercept
Descending	Under ground control guidance, Avenger Red descends from 25,000 feet toward the target altitude; eventually guided to approximately 7,000–8,000 feet
Closing	Approximately 70 miles northwest of the Keweenaw Peninsula; approximately 100 miles north of Kinross; Moncla has tracked the target for approximately 160 miles

The Merger Event

At approximately 6:55 PM*** (some sources state 7:53 PM; discrepancy reflects different timing sources):

• Ground radar controllers at Calumet AFS watched the two radar blips — Avenger Red and the unidentified target — draw closer and closer
• The gap between them narrowed until they were at the same position on the radar screen
• The two blips merged into a single return
• Ground Control assumed Moncla had overflown or underflown the target and that the blips would separate again as he moved past
• The single blip did not separate
• The single blip then disappeared entirely from the radar screen
• All radio contact with Avenger Red was simultaneously lost
• No distress call was received
• No ejection was observed

One ground controller's words, reportedly relayed by Donald Keyhoe from a leaked Air Force document: "It seems incredible, but the blip apparently just swallowed our F-89."***

Post-Merger

• Ground Control attempted to contact Avenger Red on all frequencies — no response
• Avenger Black (Lt. Mingenbach's aircraft) was redirected to the last known position — no sign of wreckage or signals
• Search and rescue aircraft were launched within a short time of the disappearance
• Radar operators noted that after the merger, the unidentified object's blip briefly continued moving before also disappearing — in some accounts described as having "veered in another direction" before vanishing

The garbled radio transmission: some accounts describe a brief, garbled, unintelligible transmission received from Avenger Red shortly after the merger event. If genuine, this transmission is the last communication from the aircraft and its content — unintelligible in all accounts — remains unknown.